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Chapter 36 - Infiltration (CitC)
The second stage of the plan involved descending from the airships. With the Clubba Castle full of Toads and Beans of the Mushroom-Bean Alliance, the battlers had to be prepared to fight their way through the massive frontal doors, down into the basement and into the dungeons, where most of the Clubbas of the army were held. With the Mushroom Kingdom having focused on the weak points on the Koopa Kingdom border, those left behind in Clubba Castle would be far too preoccupied with the airships floating around the Castle to put up a major fight to even three battlers storming through the lower levels. The wild card in the second stage would be how Ludwig interpreted the battlers' plans. The Koopa Kingdom's plan had just been to seige the Clubba Castle with the airships until the high-ranking Toad or Bean inside surrendered, freeing the Clubbas for an assault on the land just south of the Kingdom. There was to be no ground fighting from Koopan soldiers, just Clubbas fighting for their freedom. Tubba growled silently over the yoke; the Koopas were fine with the Clubbas sacrificing themselves, but weren't willing to get their own hands dirty. Tubba refused to resort to the yellow-bellied methods of the Koopas, who wanted the others to fight their battles. Rather, Tubba would go down to the ground with Parin and Aaron, with the intention of blasting through the Clubba Castle himself. While it would be easier to let those who could fly - Meloetta, Skeloetta, Dibby, Lukki, Aaron - descend from the airships and free the Clubbas, without Gonzales at his side, Tubba didn't trust anyone else to do it right. Besides, there was something in the basement waiting for him... So, Parin would duplicate Lukki and fly down. Aaron, being a Ruff Puff, could manage flight as well. But Tubba would have to do with the parachutes lining the walls of the bridge next to the windowholes, the ones designed for Koopas, who were much slimmer and lighter than Clubbas. Three of the airships left behind - Larry's, Wendy's and Iggy's - would do holding patterns around the castle, being handled by only one battler. Junior's airship, being in control of four battlers, would shield the three weaker airships in case Ludwig reacted with force. The subdued Koopalings in each airship would be reason enough for Ludwig not to fire, but Tubba still liked to have a backup plan. Ludwig had had no qualms about sieging the Castle, blasting it with the various types of weaponry the older airships possessed, ranging from Bullet Bills, Bob-ombs, lasers, Super Scopes, cannonballs, and plasma cannons. Tubba would rather not destroy the place he had grown up in, so he was hoping that four AWOL airships would turn Ludwig off that plan as well. The Castle atop the Gusty Gulch hill was coming into sight in the frontal airship window. It had been weeks since Tubba had seen it, and a pang wracked his body again. Although he lived in the Glitz Pit and was away from home for years on end, he still had a deep connection to the place he had been born. The yellow sands of the deep valley below the castle, adorned with houses built of sandstone, the red rugged rocks of the Clubba Cliff to the east, the Mushroom Ocean sparkling in the noonday sun beyond it, and the larger urban area of the Clubba Town to the west, sandstone structures several stories high, and although not nearly as imposing as Neo Bowser City or Mushroom City, a fitting capital of the Kingdom. Despite the two groups of airships rapidly closing in on the Castle, Tubba found himself lost in thought as he held the yoke in place. The Clubba Kingdom had once been the largest Kingdom in the world. But now, the majority of the Clubba populace had been forced into this tiny northeastern corner of the Mushroom Mainland. Although Clubba royalty existed in various tribes spread over the Mushroom Mainland and even the Waffle Kingdom, the allure of joining the main Clubba royalty, the Blubba family line, had been what had drawn royal princesses and princes from elsewhere to keep the lineage going. Although monarchs were now allowed to marry commoners, the Mushroom and Koopa Kingdom's expansion over the years had smashed many of the Clubba settlements spread across the mainland, threatening how the Clubbas had lived for over a thousand years. Few royal tribes aside from the Blubba line remained. Sometimes, Tubba lay awake at night in his small bed in the Glitz Pit. The Kingship of the Clubba Kingdom had been one decision away from him. And while Mycerinus addressed many of the underlying issues in the politics of the Kingdom, the most crucial one - expansion - remained unaddressed. Tubba had thoughts of ruling the Kingdom, of how his life would've been so different if he held off murdering Bubba in a fit of rage. He chose the low road, that had given him much short-term satisfaction, ridding himself of a tormentor, yet it permanently barred his way to Kingship. He was cleared of that murder, yes, but there was no way he would ever be King again. Clubbar proved that aboard the SS Cloansar. Perhaps, if he didn't kill Bubba, the Clubba Kingdom would be a major Kingdom in the Mushroom World today. "Tubba!" Darius shrieked behind him. Tubba jerked his head back and forth quickly, dissolving the images that had popped up in his mind... him wielding the golden club of Clubba Kingship, Clubbar telling him he wasn't King aboard the SS Cloansar, and Bubba's grotesque corpse, bleeding and.... The Castle of Gusty Gulch had grown to it's proper size in the time he had been thinking, the airships rapidly cruising through the air to the Castle nearby. The enormity of the situation raced upon him like a flood, as he leaped away from the yoke toward the parachutes lining the wooden walls. Pulling on the parachute with difficulty, for the belt that was supposed to wrap snugly around his waist was laying open and loose around his sides, Tubba took up a crouching position next to the bridge's only external door, a few paces to the right of the yoke. His shell feeling uncomfortably pinned against the parachute, Tubba knew that he had to be very careful, for one wrong move with the parachute could send him plummeting to his death. Darius, who had taken up his position controlling the yoke, would give him the signal to jump. Glancing back at the blue Ninji, Tubba couldn't suppress a slight grin: while Tubba had to double over to grab the hard black handles of the yoke properly, Darius had the opposite issue, having to push the pilot's chair close to the yoke and then stand on it to reach it. "Now, Tubba!" Darius called after a few seconds, snapping Tubba's attention back to the heavy bronze-coloured door in front of him. Grabbing the handle with both hands, he gave it a firm pull, swinging it open before him. Eyes stinging from the sudden rush of air that raced over his scales, making him shiver, Tubba waited a split second before leaping out into the blue nothingness beyond the door. With no protective gear covering his eyes, all Tubba could see through the water and his half-shut eyelids was a mess of yellow, red, blue and green as he spun through the air. His shoulders had the parachute straps on firmly, but he scrunched his body in to ensure that they did not fly off. He couldn't pull the parachute too soon or too late, but with no visual clues, and having never skydove before, finding the right time was proving harder than he had thought. Panicking, Tubba swung his right arm to over his left shoulder, pulling the red tab that would release the parachute from it's confines. Tubba instantly knew he screwed up. Rather than the parachute slowing his descent, his thick arms were yanked through the straps with a sudden jerk, and, although Tubba desperately tried to grab it by thrashing his arms above his shell, it was fruitless. The parachute was gone, and he was still plummeting hopelessly through the air. Before he could even begin to panic again, a clammy pair of hands grabbed his leg. They were small, probably Lakitu or Ninji arms. Feeling his descent lessen, and under the presumption someone was saving him in the haze of colours and water that he could see, Tubba was unprepared for the excruciating pain that laced through him when his belly contacted the ground first, propelling him forward through the air again. When he landed a second time, his shell and back skidding across the turf, he was prepared for the impact, and the shell shielded him from the brunt of damage. Tubba took a second to check whether he had any lasting impact, water accumulating around his stinging eyes as he stared up at the sky. It appeared that whomever had been trying to save him had slowed him down enough that, while his belly scales were pulsing awkwardly and painfully, he had escaped life-threatening or incapaticating damage. However, as he looked down to his belly from his awkward position on his shell, some of the white scales had been shorn away or shattered from the impact, giving Tubba a look of a pink crack on his belly. Ignoring the shivers racing down his spine at the sight of the injury, Tubba rolled onto his belly and then pushed himself up to his feet, taking in his surroundings. He had landed where he had intended to, just in front of the Clubba Castle doors. The Toads and Beans inside had long since retreated, barricading the large and largely impenetrable doors of the Clubba Castle to prevent persons from coming in. Beside him was a Lakitu, awkwardly rummaging inside the cloud that supported him. "Lukki?! Why are you here?" Tubba had previously had his many plans ruined by uncooperative people, but Lukki ruining his plan by coming instead of Parin was a new low. He ''needed ''a Duplighost! Tubba slammed his foot on the ground furiously, glaring at the Lakitu, only for him to turn into a purple Duplighost before his very eyes. You could at least say "thanks," Tubba," Parin huffed, feeling her foot awkwardly with a cloth-covered arm. "I'm just glad that cloud acted like a cushion. You're just a little heavier than I thought." Tubba rolled his eyes. Of many things the battlers liked tormenting him about, making cracks about his weight was number two on that list. Number one? Confusing him for Chubba. "Whatever," Tubba turned away from Parin, turning his attention to the large Clubba Castle doors he had walked through countless times. The doors appeared to be made of polished wood from the outside, but Tubba knew that the insides were hard, thick, gray metal, before, yet another layer of polished wood. There were probably many locks and defences added in Mycerinus' tenure as King, and more by the Toads, but Tubba knew that the Clubba Castle door's had six main locks - remote activated door bars on the exterior, all of which seemed locked currently. "I'd suggest going through the window," another voice piped in, and Tubba knew from the light, airy tone and thoughtful nature that it was Aaron, "but they seem to be barricaded." The Ruff Puff stopped behind Tubba, his eyes raking the Castle before them. "The Clubba Castle was designed to be a place of fortress in time of siege," Tubba explained, following the orange Ruff Puff's gaze to the windows blocked by metal bars and sheets. "While it's outdated to the technologies of the Koopa Kingdom, siege in our archaic methods is nearly impossible." Aaron visibly slumped, his face turning into a frown, the green stump on his head sagging. "So how are we getting in?" "Well," Tubba said, turning to the Clubba Castle again so that Aaron wouldn't see the growing smile on his face. "I doubt that the ancient siegers of this Castle had a Duplighost on hand. Parin, you know what to do." "I don't, actually." Tubba slapped a hand to his forehead. His scale wounds were ''really ''starting to bite, so he would've liked to get a move on. "Transform into a Toad and wail plaintively in front of the door so they open it! Is that so hard?! Toads are always wailing, anyway," he added as an afterthought. "Well, you could've said that earlier," Parin huffed again, before promptly turning into a female Toad with a purple spotted cap. "Ugh, this vest is so tacky!" She complained, giving the purple vest she was wearing an awkward tug. It resembled a male Toad's vest, but closed in around the chest, with golden buttons. Not bothering to reply, Tubba took a pace to Aaron. "When she gets the door open, blast the group who opens it with electricity." While blasting someone with electricity wouldn't permanently incapacitate them, it was good enough for a few hours of stunning, and enough for the battlers to get through the Entrance Hall and into the basement and then the dungeons. Aaron muttered assent as Parin strode across the yellow sands to the door as a Toad, before banging on it multiple times, wailing, "help! Help! I've been left outside!" Tubba was counting on the Toads taking pity on Parin, opening the door and then being demolished by the three waiting battlers. The unmistakable sounds of the locks unlatching was the first indication Tubba got that the plan had worked quite easily. That was a surprise; he had been expecting more questioning. The second indication was that the door was beginning to crack open. Being quite a large door, it telegraphed opening easily. Catching a glimpse of the entrance hall and the pictures of Mycerinus, Tubba shouted, "Now!", as a male Toad came into sight. Aaron opened his mouth and spat out a ball of electricity, as Tubba raised his fingers and pointed, a bolt of electricity racing from his fingers to the door. As one, the two forms of electricity raced over Parin's head, before ploughing into the frontal Toad, sending him backwards into a crowd of Toads behind him. Before any other Toads who had not been hit by the initial assault could even think of closing the door, Tubba, Parin and Aaron raced into the room together, dealing hefty punches, electrical shots and jumps on the group of Toads and Beans still bewildered from the inital assault. Although many tried to draw swords or hammers to counter the blows, the sheer power and surprise of the battlers quickly left all of the enemies knocked out, or fleeing into the various rooms of the Castle. "Honestly, does anyone wonder why Peach puts most of her faith in these things?" Tubba asked when all the enemies were no longer able to hear. No Toad or Bean had managed to get a proper shot at him in the brief but bloody skirmish, although one had punched his jaw quite awkwardly, making his teeth bleed. Parin, (now a Duplighost) and Aaron were far better off from the fight, looking virtually unscatched from the fight, and raring for more. "Opening the door at the first cry of help... pathetic. "Now," Tubba remarked, looking around at the various ways to go from the Entrance Hall. "Let's go to the dungeons."